Dzieci Theater Presents Makbet

Dzieci (djyeh-chee) is an international experimental theatre ensemble dedicated to a search for the "sacred" through the medium of theatre. "Dzieci" is the Polish word for "Children".

In Dzieci, we believe the creative act must, primarily, have a transformative effect on the artist himself. We make no pretensions of altruism. If others are involved in our efforts - as students, audiences, patients, (or even fellow group members) - it is because a relationship with them is a natural extension for us to make in the context of our own development. Ultimately, the only gauge each of us has for measuring the effects of our work is our individual evolution, as artists and as human beings.

Using techniques garnered from such theatre masters as Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba and Peter Brook, ritual forms derived from Native American and Eastern spiritual disciplines, and an ethic based securely in Humanistic Psychology, Dzieci aims to create a theatre that is as equally engaged with personal transformation as it is with public presentation.

Towards this aim, the ensemble balances its work on performance with work of service, through creative and therapeutic interaction in hospitals and a variety of institutional settings. Dzieci believes helping others generates a profound healing effect that not only serves
the patient but also strengthens the ensemble's work.

Dzieci is firmly dedicated to process. Our theatrical creations come organically over a long period of time, and a relationship with the world around us is essential. Therefore, public demonstrations of the work in progress are offered along the way, along with para-theatrical workshops, which invite participants to experience the work underlying our most current investigations.

Makbet
Dzieci has been steadily working on a Gypsy retelling of the Shakespearean classic. For this condensed version of Macbeth, the ensemble has learned all the lines, of every part, through a process of oral transmission, so as to create maximum improvisational possibilities. In rehearsal, as well as production, we do not know who will be playing any given role at any given time.

The show has the impression of being a ritual or ceremony. A very mysterious ceremony. Employing haunting folk songs and chants from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, along with the poetry of Shakespeare’s eternal verse, the company explores, and explodes, the very essence of theatre and storytelling.

www.dziecitheatre.org